A swimming pool installation is often provided with two or more skimmers for filtering the water in the pool. The skimmers are operated by connecting suction outlets on the bottom thereof to the input of an external circulating pump located in an area adjacent the swimming pool. When a pool technician prepares to vacuum the floor of the swimming pool by use of a portable vacuum cleaner placed in the pool, he needs to make all of the vacuum produced by the circulating pump available to the portable vacuum cleaner. The pool technician does this while the circulating pump is running by extending his hand up to his elbow into the water of each of the skimmers, except one, to engage a threaded plug into the threaded suction outlet thereof. The pool technician, at this time, also closes a manually controlled valve in a pipe that connects the main drain suction outlet on the bottom of the pool to the inlet of the circulating pump during filtering of the water in the pool. In this way, all the vacuum produced by the pump is made available to the suction outlet of the one skimmer that is still connected to the circulating pump. The pool technician then inserts the end of a flexible hose on the portable vacuum cleaner down into the water of the one skimmer and connects it to the suction outlet thereof thereby making all the vacuum of the circulating pump available to operate the portable vacuum cleaner.
After cleaning the pool with the vacuum cleaner, in order for the skimmers to resume filtering of the water in the pool, the circulating pump has to be turned off to enable the pool technician to disconnect the plugs from the suction outlets of the skimmers by again extending his hand up to his elbow into the water of each of the skimmers. The reason for turning off the circulating pump at this time is because it is virtually impossible for the pool technician to remove a threaded plug from the threaded suction outlet of a skimmer while the circulating pump is running because of the pull of the vacuum on the plug. This need for the pool technician to have to extend his hand up to his elbow into the water of a skimmer when he connects and disconnects a plug in the suction outlet thereof creates a problem especially during the winter months when the water in the swimming pool is cold and the pool technician has to remove his shirt and/or jacket that covers his arms to prevent his clothing from getting wet.